Brazilian govt reschedules welfare payments for before elections

Brazil's leftist government on Monday announced accelerated payments of a flagship social welfare program, meaning that its 50 million beneficiaries will receive the money before the presidential runoff.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for a fourth non-consecutive term, created the Bolsa Familia program in 2003.

The scheme guarantees a monthly income for poor families, with requirements such as using the money for children's schooling and vaccinations.

After trailing his right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro by two percentage points in a first round earlier this month, polls show Lula statistically tied with his rival in Sunday's runoff.

His administration modified the Bolsa Familia payment schedule until the end of the year "to mitigate exceptional risks" linked to the El Nino climate phenomenon, according to the minister of development.

About half of the families would have received the October payment after the elections, according to the original calendar.

All families will now receive the money before the vote.

Jair Bolsonaro, jailed ex-leader and father of Flavio Bolsonaro, took a similar step before the 2022 runoff which he ultimately lost to Lula.

The current president depends on votes from poorer regions, such as northeastern Brazil.

Lula has passed a series of social measures in the final stretch of campaigning as a way to strengthen his chances of victory.

He scored an important win by getting parliamentary approval of a reduction in working hours, an extremely popular measure that even Flavio Bolsonaro supported.